DREAMS

Dream means "vision during sleep". Some dreams are  significant and  merit interpretation. Many dreams are  the  result of events of  the day. So a dream which  refers to something that has not happened to you in  your working hours within  the  last  week  or  so is likely to  have  a special  meaning, maybe a warning or promise for  good  or bad.

Astrologically dreams are connected with  first  house, Karka; for bad  dreams is Mercury. Reading of dreams is connected with "Rahu'". This has been  stated in Khanda V Slokas 1,5,35 & 52 of  Uurakalamrita.

A  bad   dream  is  considered a  mental disease which   has  been attributed to Mercury vide Sloka-5 Adhyaya XIV of Phala Deepika.

Dreams are  mysterious perceptions realised when   the  physical body of a person is at rest.When one sleeps, the body functions as usual, so  also, the  mind  functions. When  there  are  no external disturbances, the body, though at rest, does not prevent sensitivity and perceptivity in the subconscious from  functioning. So it appears that mind  will wander or record something which the person does in his awakening state.

Dreams are  seen  during daytime and  at  night. Sometimes these dreams predict some incident or give an indication of some good events. Dreams seen during an  illness or  when   the  man  is worried are  not reliable. Dreams seen  during the day are  less  reliable and  their  results appear after a long time.

Their Psychology and Significance

A dream has also  been  defined as a ''Series of pictures and events seen by a sleeping person". It is a hallucinatory experience occurring during sleep. It  has  a  latent (disguised) content different from   the  manifest (literal) content by which it is remembered. It gives a cross section of the extant state of physical function. It is real so long as it lasts  but is in fact  unreal inasmuch as it has no factual existence.

A dream state is an intennediate state between the waking state and sound sleep. It is neither a state  of consciousness nor  of death. It is a fleeting phenomenon  and a short duration (Atharva Veda 6-46-1). It is said that the longest dream lasts for five seconds. It starts suddenly and ends abruptly. It is an involuntary outpouring of the contents of the subconscious   and  the  conscious  mind.  Dreams   which  cannot   be connected with persons, places, activities and actions of present life presage coming events.

Dreams may be classified as under:
1. Pleasant
2. Unpleasant
3. Single
4. Composite
5. Absurd, meaningless, fantastic and baseless
6. Short
7. Realistic
8. Dreams about future events
9. Ordinary  dreams  which are  just a continuation  of routine life such as reading, writing, talking with friends etc.
10. Dreams before waking.

Dreams serve one of the following  purposes:
1. To presage future events.
2. To amuse and regale the dreamer in the interval between waking state and deep sleep.
3. To cause afflictions and misery to the dreamer.
4. To serve  as a safety  value  for  suppressed  desires,  unfulfilled wishes, lurking fears and anxieties.
5. To suggest guidelines for unsolved problems.
6. To disclose unknown secrets.

There are reported cases in which a deceased person appeared  in a dream  and  informed  his wife about  tbe whereabouts  of  the  money amassed secretly by them during their lifetime. On investigation  the disclosures were found correct.

It  is  the  mind  which  projects  the  dream  and  the  soul  which witnesses it. According  to Yajur Veda (34-1,3)  the mind wanders far and wide in the waking state as well as in the sleeping state, no act can be accomplished without it and it is the storehouse of memory.

It is stated in Atharva Veda (6-42-2) that Varunani is the mother of Yama, father  of dreams. Some scholars have interpreted  Varunani as the wife of Varun. This interpretation is incorrect, because if Varunani is the mother  of dreams  then Varun, being  the husband of Varunani, would be  their  father  and  not Yama. The  words  Varun  and  Yama connote different meanings depending on the context in which they are used in the Vedas.The most opt meaning of Varunani andYama as used in this hymn is darkness of the night and Sun respectively. It is evident that dreams  generally  occur at night which is termed as their mother. The sense organs  function  in daylight  which emanates  from the Sun. The sense organs  project  the dream experiences gained in daylight to the soul in a jumbled form.

There is authentic  source in the Upanishads about the projector of dreams. Their expositions are  summed up as under:

1. Verily mind is the yajman in the body. (Prasan  U. 4-4)

2. In dreams  the smd sees again whatever  has been seen before, hears  what has been heard before, enjoys once again what has been enjoyed  in different places and quarters. It sees what has been seen, and what has not been seen, it hears what has been heard and what has not been heard. It experiences what has been experienced and  what has not  been experienced.  It sees that which exists and that which does not exist. (Prasan  U. 4-5)

3. It  is  the soul  which  sees,. which  hears,  which  smells,  which tastes, which thinks and which is an action. (Prasan  U. 4-10)

4. Mind is the Divine eye of the soul and soul sees objects through it. (Chandogya U. 8-12-5)

5. In dreams,  the soul sometimes  becomes  a king,  sometimes  a fool,  sometimes   high  and sometimes   low.  (Brihadaranyaka u. 2-1-18)

6. In dreams there are chariots, no horses, no roads, the soul creates them  there. There  is  no happiness,  amusement  and  laughter there; but he creates them.There are no tanks, springs and rivers but he creates  them. That is why the soul is known  as "doer". (ibid. 4-2-10)

7. After entrusting  to the Pranas the protection of its body which is its nest, the soul goes out in dream and roams about wherever it likes. It assumes many forms, high and low, sometimes  enjoying the company  of a woman or laughing  or seeing  fearful sights. (Brihadaranayaka U. 3-3-12,13)

The  psychologists do not agree  about  the significance and interpretation of  most  of  the dreams. A comprehensive investigation about the dreams  and subsequent events  in the life of the dreamer and matters connected with the dreamer is likely to provide a scientific basis for interpreting most of the dreams. (Vedic Light, May  87)

PERIODS OF DREAM RESULTS:
Dreams  which  are seen  during  the first  part  of  the night  indicate the results  within  a  year. Dreams seen  during   the  second   part  of  night denotes  the results  within eight  months.  In the third  part of the night  a dream  seen  will give  the results  within  three  months. The  results  are experienced within a month of the dreams seen during  the fourth part of the night. Dreams  which  are  seen  within  one  hour  of  dawn  bear  the results within ten days. Dreams seen in the morning give  the results on the srune day.

"From  ancient times  people  have been interested in finding  out the significance of their dreams, and through  centuries a vast lore of dream interpretations has accumulated."